http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=24517
13 August, 1998
Andersen Consulting bars new Y2K work
By Cass Warneminde
SYDNEY
Andersen Consulting plans to stop accepting year 2000
consulting work due to fears it could be sued by clients
whose systems fail at the turn of the century, ComputerWorld
has been told.
According to an industry source, a "global policy" banning
Andersen business units from engaging in further Y2K
consulting activities was handed down by company executives
in the past 48 hours.
Andrew Macpherson, technology partner at Andersen, denied
that any such plan would affect existing contracts involving
Y2K work. "Yes, we're doing work for certain clients on Y2K,
but no, we're not discontinuing that client activity."
Macpherson was cagey, however, when questioned on whether or
not it would take on new Y2K consulting business.
"We have a whole set of policies and procedures about how we
consider dealing with future Y2K work and we'll apply that."
Macpherson was unable to elaborate on these "policies and
procedures" by press time.
Despite this denial, another Andersen employee contacted by
ComputerWorld confirmed the global mandate was a reality,
but was uncertain as to whether or not the policy is
"official or just used in practice". "It's my understanding
that it's a global directive - it's not specific to
Australia and New Zealand," she said. "I do remember reading
something about [this policy on our intranet] but I'm not
sure of the details."
A spokesperson from consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers said
she understood Andersen's reluctance to continue with its
Y2K business. Furthermore, she said Price Waterhouse - prior
to its merger with Coopers - had steered clear of such
activities due to the danger of millennium bug-related
lawsuits. "From an old Price Waterhouse perspective, we
didn't do any work in Y2K whatsoever for precisely that
reason," she said. "There's been some speculation in the
marketplace for some time [that Andersen would pull out of
the Y2K arena]."
Graeme Henry, Andersen's managing partner Australia and New
Zealand, was unavailable for comment by press time.
-o-
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